Jaiveer, Dhvaj, Aditya can replace me in future: Advani

Bengaluru: Ace Indian cueist Pankaj Advani on Wednesday said that anyone among Jaiveer Dhingra, Aditya Agarwal and Dhvaj Haria has the potential to replace him in future but advised the young guns to emerge as champions and winners in order to rise and shine.

"Between Jaiveer, Aditya and Dhvaj, we will definitely find a champion, but it all depends who comes out as a champion and as a winner. Any one can take my place in future. They are future of India. Sometimes you have the ability but don't have the quality to win," Advani told PTI in an exclusive interview on the sidelines of the unveiling of world's first-ever vegan discount card, PETA's V-Card, here.

However, Advani said he had not thought of replacing anybody when he played his debut World Cup event in 2003.

"When I began and played for the first time in a world cup event in 2003, I never thought I was replacing somebody - yes Geet Sethi was there. He is still one of the best cue sports players we have produced. It is all about taking the quality of the game higher and higher, which matters," he said.

However, there are other players who are good like Sourav Kothari, he added.

Asked whether young cueists seek his advise for improving their game, Advani said they are keen students and don't hesitate to seek tips from him.

"We do discuss a lot about the game. They do come to me and they do watch all the matches of top players. Some of them also record matches which someone did in Leeds. They are keen students of the game and very open to constructive criticism. We are together to learn, to improve our individual game," he said.

Asked about his preparations for the IBSF World snooker championship, Advani said he does not want to practice much and instead wants to keep himself match hungry ahead of the world snooker tournament to be played here.

"I haven't practiced after I came back after winning the IBSF World Billiards Championship (timed format) in Leeds. I may start off practice from tomorrow, but do not want to practice much for next one week because I want stay hungry and save energy when it matters," he said.

However, it will be lovely to play before the home crowd but also at the same time he would have to tackle with the pressure of doing well, Advani said. "It is lovely to play before the home crowd but there will be pressure of not disappointing them," he added.

Asked who would pose him a good challenge in the IBSF World snooker championship to be held from November 16 to 29, Advani said he cannot single out one or two players but there are some outstanding players from different continents, which is not going to be easy.

"There are some outstanding players from different countries - different continent. There are cueists from China, UK, Hong Kong, Australia and Thailand. It is not easy to go through every one of them," he said.

Replying to a query, Advani said he does not believe in strategising or having game plans, but believes in beautiful wins when playing his natural aggressive game.

"There are many sportsmen who have won ugly. I do not want to win it ugly. I want to win in a beautiful way - in the most aggressive and natural manner. I am not for too many tricks on the table. I don't believe in these tactics of slowing down the game as well," he said.

Advani also said that if he remains fit and healthy he would be playing the sport for the next ten years at the highest level.

"As long as I am enjoying and lifting the image of the sport and the country, I would like to play the game. At least for ten more years, if I remain healthy and fit, I can play at the highest level. Your eye sight and your reflexes reduces after 40," he said.